Disruptive Crowd at Texas Senate Session Sets Terrible Precedent

National Review Online   ...."One can only imagine the outrage if an unruly mob of pro-life activists — egged on by pro-life leaders — succeeded in blocking a pro-abortion bill by shouting down the legislature.

"Regardless of one’s views on abortion, last night’s actions set a terrible precedent. Allowing an unruly crowd to effectively block a vote on a piece of legislation will only serve to encourage disruptive activity in the future. That having been said, pro-lifers should not give up hope. There is speculation that Governor Perry might call another special session of the legislature to reconsider this piece of legislation."

 Reports of the death of SB5 were premature  Videos here.

Texas Filibuster Ignores Gosnell Lessons   "Maybe President Obama could tweet thanks to the folks who had to clean Gosnell's refrigerator. "

20 week old "fetus"

...."Amid the cheers Senator Davis is hearing today, there ought to be someone asking whether she or her highly-placed supporters really believe the American people think there is something extreme about opposing the abortion of a healthy baby that has been in the womb for 21 weeks or in demanding that those who perform such procedures be able—unlike Gosnell—to give assurances about the health of the mother."

Liberal State Bar Spends Three Years Going After Lawyer For Being Conservative Blogger

Intellectual Conservative  "The liberal Arizona State Bar has spent over three years going after the editor of this website, Rachel Alexander, over her conservative political blogging, attempting to suspend her license to practice law. At one point, they broadly demanded to know everything she had ever blogged over the past five years, an obvious fishing expedition. This should be chilling to every blogger out there."

If Paula Deen Is Out, Please Explain Maher and Sharpton

RealClearPolitics   "If celebrity cook Paula Deen is out because of her decades-old private use of the "n" word, what about its public AND private use by MSNBC's Al Sharpton? What about HBO host Bill Maher's use of the "c" word?"

....
"Sharpton, of course, rocketed to fame by falsely accusing two white men of raping and sodomizing black teenager Tawana Brawley. A New York grand jury investigation concluded that the whole case was fraudulent and that Brawley flat-out lied to avoid punishment for staying out too late. To this day, Sharpton refuses to apologize to former Assistant District Attorney Steven Pagones, one of the men Sharpton accused of rape, even after a jury found Sharpton liable for defamation."
 Much more on Sharpton here. You should really know what Democrats are like today and he is one example.  And remember Al Sharpton= MSNBC
....
"Maher, on more than one occasion, publicly called former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin the "c" word.
He has called her a "dumb tw-t" -- a derisive slang word for female genitalia. He has described her son Trig, who has Down syndrome, as "retarded."

 

Along with Snowden, how about Obama's publicizing of national security information? This administration should never have been given security clearances

Seal Team 6 and Special Ops Families File Suit Against Biden & Panetta for Releasing Classified Info
"This leak should be treated the same way the Snowden leak is treated, however it wont be because it was the Vice President and the Secretary of Defense did the leaking that outed Seal Team 6 as the heroes who killed Bin Laden putting a target on their backs resulting in the deaths of 24 American heroes.
"Four families of Navy SEAL Team 6 and special ops forces will be filing a  suit in Washington, D.C federal court today over the death of their sons, whose helicopter was shot down by the Taliban on August 6, 2011 in Afghanistan. Among those who died in the crash were 16 Navy SEALs and 8 special ops servicemen, including the sons of the plaintiffs Charles Strange, Doug and Shaune Hamburger, Sidh Douangdara, and Billy and Karen Vaughn." 

 

http://terrellaftermath.com/

Hat tip to Jeffrey Dunetz at Conservative Bloggers on Facebook

The Good and Bad of Obama’s Counterterrorism Strategy

http://www.englishblog.com/

The Foreign Policy Initiative  "In late May, President Obama gave a high-profile speech to announce his new strategy for countering terrorist threats to the United States and its allies. While certain parts of Obama's new counterterrorism strategy represent a step forward, other aspects alarmingly suggest a step backwards to pre-9/11 thinking."
The Foreign Policy Initiative seeks to promote an active U.S. foreign policy committed to robust support for democratic allies, human rights, a strong American military equipped to meet the challenges of the 21st century, and strengthening America’s global economic competitiveness. 

President Obama's Climate Change Plan, June 2013

Council on Foreign Relations  "President Obama spoke at Georgetown University, before the release of his Climate Change Plan, on June 25, 2013. The plan focuses on cutting carbon pollution, preparing for the impact of climate change, and leading international efforts to address global climate change."

Think NSA Spying Is Bad? Here Comes The ObamaCare Hub.

Investors.com  "The Health and Human Services Department earlier this year exposed just how vast the government's data collection efforts will be on millions of Americans as a result of ObamaCare.
.... the HHS said the ObamaCare data hub will "interact" with seven other federal agencies: Social Security Administration, the IRS, the Department of Homeland Security, the Veterans Administration, Office of Personnel Management, the Department of Defense and — believe it or not — the Peace Corps"....

Points of view on the DOMA decision today

DOMA/Prop 8: States Win, People Lose  "The Supreme Court's rulings Wednesday on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and Proposition 8 are being viewed as a limited victory for advocates of same-sex marriage--and also for federalism. The Court's decision to strike down DOMA means that a federal definition of marriage cannot trump a state definition, and that same-sex marriages in some states will be honored by others. Its decision to refuse to rule on Prop 8 means that lower court rulings against it will stand, effectively legalizing same-sex marriage in California."

Scalia's Blistering Dissent on DOMA  "In a ripping dissent, Scalia says that Justice Anthony Kennedy and his colleagues in the majority have resorted to calling opponents of gay marriage "enemies of the human race." "

NRO: More Than Marriage Is at Stake Now  "The Proposition 8 ruling is the most disturbing. Though the Court chose not to rule on the merits, it did establish a terrible precedent, ruling that citizens who pass an initiative do not have the legal right or standing to defend that law when elected officials refuse to do their job and defend the duly enacted law in court."

Justice Scalia on the DOMA decision.  "In a blistering rebuke of the Supreme Court decision to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act, Justice Antonin Scalia said the self-governing power of the people has been eroded."

Volokh Conspiracy; Federalism Marries Liberty in the DOMA Decision   "For now, federalism wins out in theory as well as in practice.  States are free to define marriage as they wish (subject to Equal Protection and Due Process clause restraints), and the fight over “gay marriage” will continue in the states for years, as other litigation winds its way back to the Court.  So far, this process of federalism has been beneficial to the cause of same-sex marriage in a number of respects, not least of which is the perceived legitimacy of same-sex marriage in states where it has been adopted by legislation or popular initiative.  But whether this bodes good or ill for same-sex marriage, it is a visible demonstration that federalism need not be just for conservatives.

Supreme Court Clears Way for Gay Marriage in Calif
"The Supreme Court has cleared the way for same-sex marriage in California by holding that defenders of California's gay marriage ban did not have the right to appeal lower court rulings striking down the ban."

Obama Says He Won’t Force Christian Churches to Hold Gay Weddings… Not Yet Anyway

Catholic Bishops: Supreme Court DOMA Decision a “Tragic Day for Marriage and Our Nation”   "Wait til Obama starts forcing Catholic churches to conduct gay marriages.
"The bishops will love that."


Left Coast Rebel: SCOTUS Rules Favorably on DOMA, Not Going Far Enough the Justices Tossed it Back To the States...  " Unfortunately the "... several congressional Republicans — including Ohio Sen. Rob Portman — have endorsed same-sex marriage" are in the decided minority. Therein lies one the reason the republican party is rapidly losing much of the nation to the Libertarian Party and the Democratic Party." 

Gay marriage unlikely to be a focus of 2014 elections   "After the Supreme Court Wednesday struck down the Defense of Marriage Act and cleared the way for gay marriages to resume in California, GOP strategists said same-sex marriage will have a bit part in the midterms. Obamacare and the size of government will be a much keener focus."

Clinton Hails Supreme Court Overturning Law He Signed

Man marries dog

Let's see how well President Obama is looking after this nation today

NRO; Obama’s Failing Foreign Policy   "His credibility is crumbling, across the board."

 

Not a fan of the TEA Party

Radical Muslim Cleric honored with White House meeting  "Schoolchildren may still be unable to visit the White House, but radical Muslim cleric Sheik Abdullah Bin Bayyah was welcomed and attended a June 13 meeting with National Security Advisor Tom Donilon and White House communications director Jennifer Palmieri."
....
"The White House has a lot of explaining ahead on this outrageous honor accorded Bin Bayyah. Without the work of the IPT, we would not have known of it."

Obama Renews His War On Coal  "Don’t say he didn’t warn us: “Go ahead and build a coal-powered plant — but it will bankrupt you.” Today President Obama put those words into action. With poverty and unemployment at record levels and his foreign policy in tatters, Obama decided to address a more important problem: Americans aren’t paying enough for electricity! So he mounted a new attack on coal, America’s principal source of power."
Obama Announces Plan to Save the Earth from a Problem That Doesn’t Exist

James Pethokoukis; Obama wants action on climate change in the worst way — and that’s what the US is getting  " Listening to President Obama’s big climate-change policy speech, one would never realize that climate-change science has been going through a rough patch. For the past 15 years, as The Economist recently noted, Earth’s surface air temperature has unexpectedly been flat even as greenhouse-gas emissions have continued to soar. Climatologists are befuddled." 

NRO editorial; Obama’s Radical Climate Agenda   "President Barack Obama has decided to make the issue a new focus of his troubled presidency — and, indeed, that he intends to use the issue as the launching pad for a radical extension of federal power even more significant than his health-care takeover."

 

Obama Risks the Economy for the Sake of His EPA Legacy

The Fiscal Times  "Like a teenager with $20 in his pocket, President Obama cannot spend our natural gas bonanza fast enough.

"We could use our newfound cheap energy to drive a manufacturing renaissance and create jobs, but the president wants to squander it combatting pollution. Heather Zichal, White House coordinator for energy and climate change, explains the president’s motivation: “He knows this is a legacy issue.”

"In a major address on energy and the environment at Georgetown University, Mr. Obama said he will direct the EPA to set emissions standards on power plants – limits that will drive up electricity costs, tax our economy and slow growth. This, despite the fact that CO2 emissions in the U.S. have dropped 12 percent in the past five years, are down to 1996 levels, and may well have peaked." Read more... 

Americans Oppose 'Obamacare,' Social Security for Illegal Immigrants Made Legal by Reform

National Journal Magazine   "Who would get welfare and other benefits under immigration reform is a complicated and still-unanswered question, with Congress far from done debating immigration legislation. But what Americans think of the idea is suddenly much clearer.

".... more than two-thirds of all Americans and nine out of every 10 Republicans oppose making legalized immigrants "eligible for government benefits ... before they become citizens," confirming the issue's potency as one of the main political attacks against immigration reform supporters in 2014."

The, like, decline and, y'know, fall of the English major

NY Times

"In the past few years, I’ve taught nonfiction writing to undergraduates and graduate students.... Each semester I hope, and fear, that I will have nothing to teach my students because they already know how to write. And each semester I discover, again, that they don’t.

"They can assemble strings of jargon and generate clots of ventriloquistic syntax. They can meta-metastasize any thematic or ideological notion they happen upon. And they get good grades for doing just that. But as for writing clearly, simply, with attention and openness to their own thoughts and emotions and the world around them — no."